Title page for ETD etd-10112006-113524

An Analysis of the Relationship between City Typology, Interactivity and Advertising Message Strategies of American Municipal Web Sites

Degree

Master of Mass Communication (M.M.C.)

Department

Mass Communication

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name

Title

Lance Porter

Committee Chair

Andrea Miller

Committee Member

Anne Osborne

Committee Member

Keywords

structural interactivity

message strategy

advertising strategy

creative advertising strategy

place marketing

city marketing

city advertising

city web site

Taylor's six-segment strategy wheel

Date of Defense

2006-05-17

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

This study became to first to scientifically explore the relationship between city typology and the use of advertising message strategy and interactivity within municipal web sites. The study used Taylorís six-segment strategy wheel to analyze message strategies and previous scales of interactivity to analyze structural interactivity. Medium-size cities and cities within the South and West geographic regions more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites. Cities with racially diverse populations more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites as well. Large cities and central cities, both with large populations, used the most interactive strategies within their sites compared to their respective classifications. Cities within the mountain geographic division used the most interactive features among geographic locations and more racially diverse cities used more interactive features than predominantly Caucasian or minority populations. Thus, both message strategy and interactivity proved to share relationships with city typology.